Command processing for graphics tile-based rendering

ABSTRACT

The same set of render commands can be re-executed for each of a plurality of tiles making up a graphic scene to be rendered. Each time the list of commands is executed, the way the commands are executed may be modified based on information received from tile pre-processing. Specifically, a jump if command may be inserted into the command list. When this command is encountered, a determination is made, based on information received from tile pre-processing pipeline, whether to execute the command for the next primitive or not. If the next primitive is to be culled then the command for the next primitive is not executed and the flow moves past that command. If the next primitive is to be executed then the jump is not implemented. This enables avoiding reloading the same list of commands over and over for every tile.

BACKGROUND

This relates generally to tile-based rendering.

In tile-based rendering, a display screen is divided into a number oftiles. Generally these tiles constitute rectangular or even squaregroups of pixels. During a sorting phase, the geometry is sorted intothe tiles. The geometry is generally made up of primitives, such astriangles including their vertices. A graphics processing unit (GPU)then renders each tile separately using on-chip buffers to minimize thememory bandwidth.

Since a scene is rendered by processing a number of tiles, the commandsfor rendering the scene must be re-executed for each tile. However, onlya subset of the scene commands need to be executed for any given tilebecause only a portion of the scene geometry falls within any giventile.

Some tiling implementations handle this situation by reading in acommand list for the scene once during the tiling phase and thencreating a command list per tile for each of the tiles. However,outputting a command list for each tile creates a significant commandbandwidth consumption during the write out operation.

During the rendering phase, since each tile is executing differentcommands, command caching benefits are precluded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments are described with respect to the following figures:

FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction for one embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows command buffers for one embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows the commands for one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a processing system according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a processor according to one embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a graphics processor according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a graphics processing engine according toone embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a graphics processor;

FIG. 10 is a depiction of thread execution logic according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a graphics processor instruction formataccording to some embodiments;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a graphicsprocessor;

FIG. 13A is a block diagram of a graphics processor command formataccording to some embodiments;

FIG. 13B is a block diagram illustrating a graphics processor commandsequence according to some embodiments;

FIG. 14 is a depiction of an exemplary graphics software architectureaccording to some embodiments;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an IP core development systemaccording to some embodiments; and

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an exemplary system on chipintegrated circuit according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In any tiling architecture, a large number of primitives need to beskipped. They may be skipped for a number of reasons including the factthat the primitive does not intersect the currently processed tile, theprimitives are too small, the primitives are back-facing or for avariety of other reasons.

For every primitive that is rendered to a tile, some state and constantdata must be processed. This work can be skipped if the primitive willnot be drawn in the current tile anyway. Information that a primitive isculled can be used to figure out when to skip over a set of commands,thereby processing less state and doing less work in terms of sortingconstant data. By doing tiling pre-processing ahead of the primaryrendering engine, one can obtain information about what primitives needto be culled so that for these primitives, actual render processing maybe skipped.

The same set of render commands can be re-executed for each of aplurality of tiles making up a graphic scene to be rendered. Each time alist of commands is executed for a tile, the way the commands areexecuted may be modified based on information received as a part oftiling pre-processing. Specifically, a jump if command may be insertedinto the command list before primitives. When this command isencountered, a determination is made, based on information received fromthe pre-processing, whether to execute the commands for the nextprimitive or not for example, because it does not need to be renderedfor this tile. If the next primitive is to be culled then the commandfor the next primitive is not executed and the flow moves past thatcommand. If the next primitive is to be executed then the jump is notexecuted. This enables avoiding reloading the same list of commands overand over for every tile, reducing memory bandwidth consumption in someembodiments.

In accordance with some embodiments, command caching benefits can beachieved and one set of command list instructions can be used over andover for all the tiles of a scene.

In any tiling architecture, a large number of primitives need to beskipped. They may be skipped for a number of reasons including the factthat the primitive does not intersect the currently processed tile, theprimitives are too small, the primitives are back-facing or for avariety of other reasons.

For every primitive that is rendered to a tile, some state and constantdata must be processed. This work can be skipped if the primitive willnot be drawn in the current tile anyway. Information that a primitive isculled can be used to figure out when to skip over a set of commands,thereby processing less state and doing less work in terms of sortingconstant data. By doing tiling pre-processing ahead of the primaryrendering engine, one can obtain information about what primitives needto be culled so that for these primitives, actual render processing maybe skipped.

In some embodiments, tiling logic walks through the primitives anddetermines whether each primitive intersects the currently processedtile. This information can be used to decide whether to skip some stateand constant processing during rendering.

In other embodiments, a position only shading pipeline may run ahead ofan actual render pipeline. It provides information to the renderpipeline about what primitives will actually be culled anyway so thatdecisions can be made about what processing to do in the subsequentrendering phase. Position only shading can be used independent ofwhether tiling is used.

Initially, tiles are pre-processed at block 11 to determine whichprimitives will be visible in the currently executed tile, as shown inFIG. 1. In position only shading and position only shading based tiledrendering (POSH/PTBR), an infrastructure supports tiling by firstsubmitting commands to a position only shading pipe which does the tilepre-processing at block 11. The position only shading pipe creates pertile visibility information that the render pipe 12 uses to executelater.

The tile processing 11, which may be position only shading pipe commandstreamer (PCS) in one embodiment, and the render pipe command streamer13 provide commands to the render pipeline. The command streamer 13 maybe any primary rendering pipeline or engine. An output visibilityregister (OVR) block 16, within the position only shader pipe 10,outputs tokens to indicate visibility information 18.

Visibility information is transferred from the position only shadingblock to render block at a render target granularity. The render target(RT) 14 transfers the visibility information to the visibility buffers18 that are accessed by the render pipe 12. A render target is a phasein graphics state processing. Rendering of a frame can be divided intorendering different render targets which may be a part of a frame or maybe a shadow buffers, as two examples. In FIG. 1, four buffers 18 areshown in this embodiment. There are four tiles per render target butother numbers of buffers may be used.

The position only shading pipe may support a subset of the primitives tominimize complexity so that the position only shading buffer is a subsetof a render command buffer as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the positiononly shading (POSH) list 20 includes the state commands which may bedouble words (DWs) and the primitives (PRIMs). The position only shadingprimitives are a subset of the render command streamer primitives.

The render command streamer (RCS) list 22, in general, includesessentially the same kind of information but includes more state doublewords and more primitives.

A specific example of an augmented render command streamer (RCS) list 24includes non-primitive specific double words, primitive specific doublewords for each of a plurality of primitives as well as a batch buffer(Buf) start. The batch buffer start involves primitive specific statedouble words, a given primitive and a state followed by the nextprimitive.

As shown in FIG. 2, the render command streamer list 22 can beconsidered to be composed of a repeated sequence state commands that arenot specific to the primitive that immediately follows the statecommands, state commands that are specific to the primitive that followsimmediately and the primitive itself (also called a draw call).

To reduce the command processing when executing within a tile, therender command streamer can execute the non-draw specific commands sincethis can be a state that is accumulated and applicable to all thefollowing draws, skip or treat as no operations the draw specificcommands (such as commands that are constants) not including load pushconstants and the like and skip or no operation the draw commandsthemselves. Typical game engine design orders state by“scene->material->object”. So an example of state that may be sentper-primitive is resource binding for object-level data, such as thevertex buffer that contains the object mesh or the constant buffer thatcontains the transform matrix. An example of non-per-primitive state isthe destination color buffer or depth states or rasterization modes.

Since the draw commands in the render command streamer buffer are asubset of the draw commands in the position only shader buffer, therender command streamer needs to know when approaching a draw call thathas been submitted to the position only shader that might be culled forthis execution.

Thus an infrastructure, shown in FIG. 3, handles this situation. In theinfrastructure, a position only shading list 20 is essentially the sameas the list 20 shown in FIG. 2 and a render command streamer list 24corresponds to the same list in FIG. 2.

On the right of the list 24 in FIG. 3 are comments indicating that thenon-primitive specific state double words 23 are in an accumulated statethat cannot be skipped. Primitive number 1 is not submitted to PCS to becompletely executed. The primitive specific command 25 and the draw 26are primitive specific states that may be skipped. An offset1 may beprovided to skip the primitive specific state double words 25 and thedraw 26 for primitive 1 if the position only shader suggests theprimitive 1 will not be drawn. Note that the position only shader doesnot process primitive number 1 in this example and so it would have toalways be processed. Since primitive 2 was submitted to PCS, it may beskipped if visibility information indicates “culled.”

Then the next command 27 is non-primitive specific state double wordsthat cannot be skipped followed by a “jump if” 28. The jump if commandmay be inserted by a driver for a position only shader enabledprimitive. The jump if is a conditional jump based on a token that isprovided by the output visibility register.

The render command streamer can use the jump if to determine when it isapproaching a primitive to skip. The jump if provides information abouthow many bytes or double words to jump forward. For example at the jumpif B1, a double word skip is enabled to skip primitive specific statedouble words 50 and the draw for primitive number 4.

The OVR buffer 26 has tokens 29, called render draw and cull draw, whichdetermine whether the primitive is skipped or not. These tokens are fedto the command streamer so that they may be inserted in the rendercommand streamer list 24.

Referring to FIG. 4, a sequence 30 may be implemented in software,firmware and/or hardware. In software and firmware implementedembodiments, computer executed instructions may be stored in one or morenon-transitory computer readable media such as magnetic, optical orsemiconductor storages. In one embodiment, the storage may be associatedwith and/or integral with a graphics processing unit.

The sequence 30 begins with the render command streamer providing culldraw or render draw tokens for each draw as indicated in block 32. Therender command streamer determines when to skip or not skip a draw. Theoutput visibility register block provides this information through twotokens called render draw or cull draw. These tokens are provided by theposition only shader to the render command streamer pipe. The outputvisibility register provides a cull draw or render draw token for eachdraw. When the output visibility register encounters a draw that needsto be skipped in a tile, it outputs a cull draw token.

In the render command streamer buffer, software can provide a new jumpcommand preceding each draw cull that is submitted to the position onlyshader as indicated in block 34. This jump if command may be placedafter the non-draw specific commands. Thus as shown in FIG. 4 at block34 the jump if is provided before each draw cull.

The jump if command may also contain parameters to determine how to getto the next command after the draw. For example, the parameters mayinclude a length in double words as shown in FIG. 3. Normally only oneparameter, offset1 is specified with the draw in the same commandbuffer. This shown at B1 in FIG. 3.

If a draw is to be skipped in the next chained command buffer, then twooffsets may be supplied, one offset to get to the end of the currentcommand buffer and the second offset to get to the next command afterthe draw. In FIG. 3, a first buffer 44 and second buffer 46 each includecontiguous commands. The end of the buffer 44 is indicated by batchbuffer (BUF) start 48 to reference the buffer 46 from the buffer 44, theoffset C1 is used. To identify where to jump within the buffer 46, theoffset C2 is used.

When the render command streamer operates on the buffer, the jump ifcommand is treated as a hint to look for an output visibility registertoken indicating if the current draw cull should be skipped or not forthe current tile.

Thus as indicated in block 36 at a jump if the flow checks for a token.If there is a render token as indicated at diamond 38, then thefollowing commands are executed as indicated at block 40. If not, theensuing commands are dropped or skipped as indicated in block 42.

Specifically if the token indicates render draw then the render commandstreamer executes the following commands. However if the outputvisibility register token indicates cull draw, then the render commandstreamer drops and/or skips the following commands until the next draw.When skipping over draw specific state and the associated draw command,the render command streamer can either read the commands and drop themin a no operation or use the jump parameters to execute an actual jumpto the calculated address, as two examples.

This infrastructure allows the render engine to re-execute the samecommand buffer for each tile of a scene. It does this by conditionallyskipping a subset of the commands specific to each tile. This sharedcommand buffer can now be cached in a command cache and reused for eachtile.

As a result in some embodiments, the position only shading pipe does nothave to create command lists for each tile and write them to memory.This may save the cost and complexity of creating and managing a largenumber of command lists. In addition the render pipe can consume thesame command list repeatedly, using the tokens, while only executing asubset of the commands that are relevant to any particular tile.Moreover, in some embodiments the same command buffer may be reused,allowing efficient command caching across tiles while skipping unneededcommands within a tile. Skipping unneeded commands avoids doing workthat is not needed for that tile, such as loading constants and statesto give two examples.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a processing system 100, according to anembodiment. In various embodiments the system 100 includes one or moreprocessors 102 and one or more graphics processors 108, and may be asingle processor desktop system, a multiprocessor workstation system, ora server system having a large number of processors 102 or processorcores 107. In on embodiment, the system 100 is a processing platformincorporated within a system-on-a-chip (SoC) integrated circuit for usein mobile, handheld, or embedded devices.

An embodiment of system 100 can include, or be incorporated within aserver-based gaming platform, a game console, including a game and mediaconsole, a mobile gaming console, a handheld game console, or an onlinegame console. In some embodiments system 100 is a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet computing device or mobile Internet device. Dataprocessing system 100 can also include, couple with, or be integratedwithin a wearable device, such as a smart watch wearable device, smarteyewear device, augmented reality device, or virtual reality device. Insome embodiments, data processing system 100 is a television or set topbox device having one or more processors 102 and a graphical interfacegenerated by one or more graphics processors 108.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors 102 each include one ormore processor cores 107 to process instructions which, when executed,perform operations for system and user software. In some embodiments,each of the one or more processor cores 107 is configured to process aspecific instruction set 109. In some embodiments, instruction set 109may facilitate Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC), ReducedInstruction Set Computing (RISC), or computing via a Very LongInstruction Word (VLIW). Multiple processor cores 107 may each process adifferent instruction set 109, which may include instructions tofacilitate the emulation of other instruction sets. Processor core 107may also include other processing devices, such a Digital SignalProcessor (DSP).

In some embodiments, the processor 102 includes cache memory 104.Depending on the architecture, the processor 102 can have a singleinternal cache or multiple levels of internal cache. In someembodiments, the cache memory is shared among various components of theprocessor 102. In some embodiments, the processor 102 also uses anexternal cache (e.g., a Level-3 (L3) cache or Last Level Cache (LLC))(not shown), which may be shared among processor cores 107 using knowncache coherency techniques. A register file 106 is additionally includedin processor 102 which may include different types of registers forstoring different types of data (e.g., integer registers, floating pointregisters, status registers, and an instruction pointer register). Someregisters may be general-purpose registers, while other registers may bespecific to the design of the processor 102.

In some embodiments, processor 102 is coupled to a processor bus 110 totransmit communication signals such as address, data, or control signalsbetween processor 102 and other components in system 100. In oneembodiment the system 100 uses an exemplary ‘hub’ system architecture,including a memory controller hub 116 and an Input Output (I/O)controller hub 130. A memory controller hub 116 facilitatescommunication between a memory device and other components of system100, while an I/O Controller Hub (ICH) 130 provides connections to I/Odevices via a local I/O bus. In one embodiment, the logic of the memorycontroller hub 116 is integrated within the processor.

Memory device 120 can be a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device, astatic random access memory (SRAM) device, flash memory device,phase-change memory device, or some other memory device having suitableperformance to serve as process memory. In one embodiment the memorydevice 120 can operate as system memory for the system 100, to storedata 122 and instructions 121 for use when the one or more processors102 executes an application or process. Memory controller hub 116 alsocouples with an optional external graphics processor 112, which maycommunicate with the one or more graphics processors 108 in processors102 to perform graphics and media operations.

In some embodiments, ICH 130 enables peripherals to connect to memorydevice 120 and processor 102 via a high-speed I/O bus. The I/Operipherals include, but are not limited to, an audio controller 146, afirmware interface 128, a wireless transceiver 126 (e.g., Wi-Fi,Bluetooth), a data storage device 124 (e.g., hard disk drive, flashmemory, etc.), and a legacy I/O controller 140 for coupling legacy(e.g., Personal System 2 (PS/2)) devices to the system. One or moreUniversal Serial Bus (USB) controllers 142 connect input devices, suchas keyboard and mouse 144 combinations. A network controller 134 mayalso couple to ICH 130. In some embodiments, a high-performance networkcontroller (not shown) couples to processor bus 110. It will beappreciated that the system 100 shown is exemplary and not limiting, asother types of data processing systems that are differently configuredmay also be used. For example, the I/O controller hub 130 may beintegrated within the one or more processor 102, or the memorycontroller hub 116 and I/O controller hub 130 may be integrated into adiscreet external graphics processor, such as the external graphicsprocessor 112.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a processor 200 having oneor more processor cores 202A-202N, an integrated memory controller 214,and an integrated graphics processor 208. Those elements of FIG. 6having the same reference numbers (or names) as the elements of anyother figure herein can operate or function in any manner similar tothat described elsewhere herein, but are not limited to such. Processor200 can include additional cores up to and including additional core202N represented by the dashed lined boxes. Each of processor cores202A-202N includes one or more internal cache units 204A-204N. In someembodiments each processor core also has access to one or more sharedcached units 206.

The internal cache units 204A-204N and shared cache units 206 representa cache memory hierarchy within the processor 200. The cache memoryhierarchy may include at least one level of instruction and data cachewithin each processor core and one or more levels of shared mid-levelcache, such as a Level 2 (L2), Level 3 (L3), Level 4 (L4), or otherlevels of cache, where the highest level of cache before external memoryis classified as the LLC. In some embodiments, cache coherency logicmaintains coherency between the various cache units 206 and 204A-204N.

In some embodiments, processor 200 may also include a set of one or morebus controller units 216 and a system agent core 210. The one or morebus controller units 216 manage a set of peripheral buses, such as oneor more Peripheral Component Interconnect buses (e.g., PCI, PCIExpress). System agent core 210 provides management functionality forthe various processor components. In some embodiments, system agent core210 includes one or more integrated memory controllers 214 to manageaccess to various external memory devices (not shown).

In some embodiments, one or more of the processor cores 202A-202Ninclude support for simultaneous multi-threading. In such embodiment,the system agent core 210 includes components for coordinating andoperating cores 202A-202N during multi-threaded processing. System agentcore 210 may additionally include a power control unit (PCU), whichincludes logic and components to regulate the power state of processorcores 202A-202N and graphics processor 208.

In some embodiments, processor 200 additionally includes graphicsprocessor 208 to execute graphics processing operations. In someembodiments, the graphics processor 208 couples with the set of sharedcache units 206, and the system agent core 210, including the one ormore integrated memory controllers 214. In some embodiments, a displaycontroller 211 is coupled with the graphics processor 208 to drivegraphics processor output to one or more coupled displays. In someembodiments, display controller 211 may be a separate module coupledwith the graphics processor via at least one interconnect, or may beintegrated within the graphics processor 208 or system agent core 210.

In some embodiments, a ring based interconnect unit 212 is used tocouple the internal components of the processor 200. However, analternative interconnect unit may be used, such as a point-to-pointinterconnect, a switched interconnect, or other techniques, includingtechniques well known in the art. In some embodiments, graphicsprocessor 208 couples with the ring interconnect 212 via an I/O link213.

The exemplary I/O link 213 represents at least one of multiple varietiesof I/O interconnects, including an on package I/O interconnect whichfacilitates communication between various processor components and ahigh-performance embedded memory module 218, such as an eDRAM module. Insome embodiments, each of the processor cores 202-202N and graphicsprocessor 208 use embedded memory modules 218 as a shared Last LevelCache.

In some embodiments, processor cores 202A-202N are homogenous coresexecuting the same instruction set architecture. In another embodiment,processor cores 202A-202N are heterogeneous in terms of instruction setarchitecture (ISA), where one or more of processor cores 202A-N executea first instruction set, while at least one of the other cores executesa subset of the first instruction set or a different instruction set. Inone embodiment processor cores 202A-202N are heterogeneous in terms ofmicroarchitecture, where one or more cores having a relatively higherpower consumption couple with one or more power cores having a lowerpower consumption. Additionally, processor 200 can be implemented on oneor more chips or as an SoC integrated circuit having the illustratedcomponents, in addition to other components.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a graphics processor 300, which may be adiscrete graphics processing unit, or may be a graphics processorintegrated with a plurality of processing cores. In some embodiments,the graphics processor communicates via a memory mapped I/O interface toregisters on the graphics processor and with commands placed into theprocessor memory. In some embodiments, graphics processor 300 includes amemory interface 314 to access memory. Memory interface 314 can be aninterface to local memory, one or more internal caches, one or moreshared external caches, and/or to system memory.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 300 also includes a displaycontroller 302 to drive display output data to a display device 320.Display controller 302 includes hardware for one or more overlay planesfor the display and composition of multiple layers of video or userinterface elements. In some embodiments, graphics processor 300 includesa video codec engine 306 to encode, decode, or transcode media to, from,or between one or more media encoding formats, including, but notlimited to Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) formats such as MPEG-2,Advanced Video Coding (AVC) formats such as H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, as well asthe Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) 421M/VC-1,and Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) formats such as JPEG, andMotion JPEG (MJPEG) formats.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 300 includes a block imagetransfer (BLIT) engine 304 to perform two-dimensional (2D) rasterizeroperations including, for example, bit-boundary block transfers.However, in one embodiment, 2D graphics operations are performed usingone or more components of graphics processing engine (GPE) 310. In someembodiments, graphics processing engine 310 is a compute engine forperforming graphics operations, including three-dimensional (3D)graphics operations and media operations.

In some embodiments, GPE 310 includes a 3D pipeline 312 for performing3D operations, such as rendering three-dimensional images and scenesusing processing functions that act upon 3D primitive shapes (e.g.,rectangle, triangle, etc.). The 3D pipeline 312 includes programmableand fixed function elements that perform various tasks within theelement and/or spawn execution threads to a 3D/Media sub-system 315.While 3D pipeline 312 can be used to perform media operations, anembodiment of GPE 310 also includes a media pipeline 316 that isspecifically used to perform media operations, such as videopost-processing and image enhancement.

In some embodiments, media pipeline 316 includes fixed function orprogrammable logic units to perform one or more specialized mediaoperations, such as video decode acceleration, video de-interlacing, andvideo encode acceleration in place of, or on behalf of video codecengine 306. In some embodiments, media pipeline 316 additionallyincludes a thread spawning unit to spawn threads for execution on3D/Media sub-system 315. The spawned threads perform computations forthe media operations on one or more graphics execution units included in3D/Media sub-system 315.

In some embodiments, 3D/Media subsystem 315 includes logic for executingthreads spawned by 3D pipeline 312 and media pipeline 316. In oneembodiment, the pipelines send thread execution requests to 3D/Mediasubsystem 315, which includes thread dispatch logic for arbitrating anddispatching the various requests to available thread executionresources. The execution resources include an array of graphicsexecution units to process the 3D and media threads. In someembodiments, 3D/Media subsystem 315 includes one or more internal cachesfor thread instructions and data. In some embodiments, the subsystemalso includes shared memory, including registers and addressable memory,to share data between threads and to store output data.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a graphics processing engine 410 of agraphics processor in accordance with some embodiments. In oneembodiment, the GPE 410 is a version of the GPE 310 shown in FIG. 7.Elements of FIG. 8 having the same reference numbers (or names) as theelements of any other figure herein can operate or function in anymanner similar to that described elsewhere herein, but are not limitedto such.

In some embodiments, GPE 410 couples with a command streamer 403, whichprovides a command stream to the GPE 3D and media pipelines 412, 416. Insome embodiments, command streamer 403 is coupled to memory, which canbe system memory, or one or more of internal cache memory and sharedcache memory. In some embodiments, command streamer 403 receivescommands from the memory and sends the commands to 3D pipeline 412and/or media pipeline 416. The commands are directives fetched from aring buffer, which stores commands for the 3D and media pipelines 412,416. In one embodiment, the ring buffer can additionally include batchcommand buffers storing batches of multiple commands. The 3D and mediapipelines 412, 416 process the commands by performing operations vialogic within the respective pipelines or by dispatching one or moreexecution threads to an execution unit array 414. In some embodiments,execution unit array 414 is scalable, such that the array includes avariable number of execution units based on the target power andperformance level of GPE 410.

In some embodiments, a sampling engine 430 couples with memory (e.g.,cache memory or system memory) and execution unit array 414. In someembodiments, sampling engine 430 provides a memory access mechanism forexecution unit array 414 that allows execution array 414 to readgraphics and media data from memory. In some embodiments, samplingengine 430 includes logic to perform specialized image samplingoperations for media.

In some embodiments, the specialized media sampling logic in samplingengine 430 includes a de-noise/de-interlace module 432, a motionestimation module 434, and an image scaling and filtering module 436. Insome embodiments, de-noise/de-interlace module 432 includes logic toperform one or more of a de-noise or a de-interlace algorithm on decodedvideo data. The de-interlace logic combines alternating fields ofinterlaced video content into a single fame of video. The de-noise logicreduces or removes data noise from video and image data. In someembodiments, the de-noise logic and de-interlace logic are motionadaptive and use spatial or temporal filtering based on the amount ofmotion detected in the video data. In some embodiments, thede-noise/de-interlace module 432 includes dedicated motion detectionlogic (e.g., within the motion estimation engine 434).

In some embodiments, motion estimation engine 434 provides hardwareacceleration for video operations by performing video accelerationfunctions such as motion vector estimation and prediction on video data.The motion estimation engine determines motion vectors that describe thetransformation of image data between successive video frames. In someembodiments, a graphics processor media codec uses video motionestimation engine 434 to perform operations on video at the macro-blocklevel that may otherwise be too computationally intensive to performwith a general-purpose processor. In some embodiments, motion estimationengine 434 is generally available to graphics processor components toassist with video decode and processing functions that are sensitive oradaptive to the direction or magnitude of the motion within video data.

In some embodiments, image scaling and filtering module 436 performsimage-processing operations to enhance the visual quality of generatedimages and video. In some embodiments, scaling and filtering module 436processes image and video data during the sampling operation beforeproviding the data to execution unit array 414.

In some embodiments, the GPE 410 includes a data port 444, whichprovides an additional mechanism for graphics subsystems to accessmemory. In some embodiments, data port 444 facilitates memory access foroperations including render target writes, constant buffer reads,scratch memory space reads/writes, and media surface accesses. In someembodiments, data port 444 includes cache memory space to cache accessesto memory. The cache memory can be a single data cache or separated intomultiple caches for the multiple subsystems that access memory via thedata port (e.g., a render buffer cache, a constant buffer cache, etc.).In some embodiments, threads executing on an execution unit in executionunit array 414 communicate with the data port by exchanging messages viaa data distribution interconnect that couples each of the sub-systems ofGPE 410.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a graphics processor500. Elements of FIG. 9 having the same reference numbers (or names) asthe elements of any other figure herein can operate or function in anymanner similar to that described elsewhere herein, but are not limitedto such.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 500 includes a ring interconnect502, a pipeline front-end 504, a media engine 537, and graphics cores580A-580N. In some embodiments, ring interconnect 502 couples thegraphics processor to other processing units, including other graphicsprocessors or one or more general-purpose processor cores. In someembodiments, the graphics processor is one of many processors integratedwithin a multi-core processing system.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 500 receives batches of commandsvia ring interconnect 502. The incoming commands are interpreted by acommand streamer 503 in the pipeline front-end 504. In some embodiments,graphics processor 500 includes scalable execution logic to perform 3Dgeometry processing and media processing via the graphics core(s)580A-580N. For 3D geometry processing commands, command streamer 503supplies commands to geometry pipeline 536. For at least some mediaprocessing commands, command streamer 503 supplies the commands to avideo front end 534, which couples with a media engine 537. In someembodiments, media engine 537 includes a Video Quality Engine (VQE) 530for video and image post-processing and a multi-format encode/decode(MFX) 533 engine to provide hardware-accelerated media data encode anddecode. In some embodiments, geometry pipeline 536 and media engine 537each generate execution threads for the thread execution resourcesprovided by at least one graphics core 580A.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 500 includes scalable threadexecution resources featuring modular cores 580A-580N (sometimesreferred to as core slices), each having multiple sub-cores 550A-550N,560A-560N (sometimes referred to as core sub-slices). In someembodiments, graphics processor 500 can have any number of graphicscores 580A through 580N. In some embodiments, graphics processor 500includes a graphics core 580A having at least a first sub-core 550A anda second core sub-core 560A. In other embodiments, the graphicsprocessor is a low power processor with a single sub-core (e.g., 550A).In some embodiments, graphics processor 500 includes multiple graphicscores 580A-580N, each including a set of first sub-cores 550A-550N and aset of second sub-cores 560A-560N. Each sub-core in the set of firstsub-cores 550A-550N includes at least a first set of execution units552A-552N and media/texture samplers 554A-554N. Each sub-core in the setof second sub-cores 560A-560N includes at least a second set ofexecution units 562A-562N and samplers 564A-564N. In some embodiments,each sub-core 550A-550N, 560A-560N shares a set of shared resources570A-570N. In some embodiments, the shared resources include sharedcache memory and pixel operation logic. Other shared resources may alsobe included in the various embodiments of the graphics processor.

FIG. 10 illustrates thread execution logic 600 including an array ofprocessing elements employed in some embodiments of a GPE. Elements ofFIG. 10 having the same reference numbers (or names) as the elements ofany other figure herein can operate or function in any manner similar tothat described elsewhere herein, but are not limited to such.

In some embodiments, thread execution logic 600 includes a pixel shader602, a thread dispatcher 604, instruction cache 606, a scalableexecution unit array including a plurality of execution units 608A-608N,a sampler 610, a data cache 612, and a data port 614. In one embodimentthe included components are interconnected via an interconnect fabricthat links to each of the components. In some embodiments, threadexecution logic 600 includes one or more connections to memory, such assystem memory or cache memory, through one or more of instruction cache606, data port 614, sampler 610, and execution unit array 608A-608N. Insome embodiments, each execution unit (e.g. 608A) is an individualvector processor capable of executing multiple simultaneous threads andprocessing multiple data elements in parallel for each thread. In someembodiments, execution unit array 608A-608N includes any numberindividual execution units.

In some embodiments, execution unit array 608A-608N is primarily used toexecute “shader” programs. In some embodiments, the execution units inarray 608A-608N execute an instruction set that includes native supportfor many standard 3D graphics shader instructions, such that shaderprograms from graphics libraries (e.g., Direct 3D and OpenGL) areexecuted with a minimal translation. The execution units support vertexand geometry processing (e.g., vertex programs, geometry programs,vertex shaders), pixel processing (e.g., pixel shaders, fragmentshaders) and general-purpose processing (e.g., compute and mediashaders).

Each execution unit in execution unit array 608A-608N operates on arraysof data elements. The number of data elements is the “execution size,”or the number of channels for the instruction. An execution channel is alogical unit of execution for data element access, masking, and flowcontrol within instructions. The number of channels may be independentof the number of physical Arithmetic Logic Units (ALUs) or FloatingPoint Units (FPUs) for a particular graphics processor. In someembodiments, execution units 608A-608N support integer andfloating-point data types.

The execution unit instruction set includes single instruction multipledata (SIMD) instructions. The various data elements can be stored as apacked data type in a register and the execution unit will process thevarious elements based on the data size of the elements. For example,when operating on a 256-bit wide vector, the 256 bits of the vector arestored in a register and the execution unit operates on the vector asfour separate 64-bit packed data elements (Quad-Word (QW) size dataelements), eight separate 32-bit packed data elements (Double Word (DW)size data elements), sixteen separate 16-bit packed data elements (Word(W) size data elements), or thirty-two separate 8-bit data elements(byte (B) size data elements). However, different vector widths andregister sizes are possible.

One or more internal instruction caches (e.g., 606) are included in thethread execution logic 600 to cache thread instructions for theexecution units. In some embodiments, one or more data caches (e.g.,612) are included to cache thread data during thread execution. In someembodiments, sampler 610 is included to provide texture sampling for 3Doperations and media sampling for media operations. In some embodiments,sampler 610 includes specialized texture or media sampling functionalityto process texture or media data during the sampling process beforeproviding the sampled data to an execution unit.

During execution, the graphics and media pipelines send threadinitiation requests to thread execution logic 600 via thread spawningand dispatch logic. In some embodiments, thread execution logic 600includes a local thread dispatcher 604 that arbitrates thread initiationrequests from the graphics and media pipelines and instantiates therequested threads on one or more execution units 608A-608N. For example,the geometry pipeline (e.g., 536 of FIG. 9) dispatches vertexprocessing, tessellation, or geometry processing threads to threadexecution logic 600 (FIG. 10). In some embodiments, thread dispatcher604 can also process runtime thread spawning requests from the executingshader programs.

Once a group of geometric objects has been processed and rasterized intopixel data, pixel shader 602 is invoked to further compute outputinformation and cause results to be written to output surfaces (e.g.,color buffers, depth buffers, stencil buffers, etc.). In someembodiments, pixel shader 602 calculates the values of the variousvertex attributes that are to be interpolated across the rasterizedobject. In some embodiments, pixel shader 602 then executes anapplication programming interface (API)-supplied pixel shader program.To execute the pixel shader program, pixel shader 602 dispatches threadsto an execution unit (e.g., 608A) via thread dispatcher 604. In someembodiments, pixel shader 602 uses texture sampling logic in sampler 610to access texture data in texture maps stored in memory. Arithmeticoperations on the texture data and the input geometry data compute pixelcolor data for each geometric fragment, or discards one or more pixelsfrom further processing.

In some embodiments, the data port 614 provides a memory accessmechanism for the thread execution logic 600 output processed data tomemory for processing on a graphics processor output pipeline. In someembodiments, the data port 614 includes or couples to one or more cachememories (e.g., data cache 612) to cache data for memory access via thedata port.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a graphics processor instructionformats 700 according to some embodiments. In one or more embodiment,the graphics processor execution units support an instruction set havinginstructions in multiple formats. The solid lined boxes illustrate thecomponents that are generally included in an execution unit instruction,while the dashed lines include components that are optional or that areonly included in a sub-set of the instructions. In some embodiments,instruction format 700 described and illustrated are macro-instructions,in that they are instructions supplied to the execution unit, as opposedto micro-operations resulting from instruction decode once theinstruction is processed.

In some embodiments, the graphics processor execution units nativelysupport instructions in a 128-bit format 710. A 64-bit compactedinstruction format 730 is available for some instructions based on theselected instruction, instruction options, and number of operands. Thenative 128-bit format 710 provides access to all instruction options,while some options and operations are restricted in the 64-bit format730. The native instructions available in the 64-bit format 730 vary byembodiment. In some embodiments, the instruction is compacted in partusing a set of index values in an index field 713. The execution unithardware references a set of compaction tables based on the index valuesand uses the compaction table outputs to reconstruct a nativeinstruction in the 128-bit format 710.

For each format, instruction opcode 712 defines the operation that theexecution unit is to perform. The execution units execute eachinstruction in parallel across the multiple data elements of eachoperand. For example, in response to an add instruction the executionunit performs a simultaneous add operation across each color channelrepresenting a texture element or picture element. By default, theexecution unit performs each instruction across all data channels of theoperands. In some embodiments, instruction control field 714 enablescontrol over certain execution options, such as channels selection(e.g., predication) and data channel order (e.g., swizzle). For 128-bitinstructions 710 an exec-size field 716 limits the number of datachannels that will be executed in parallel. In some embodiments,exec-size field 716 is not available for use in the 64-bit compactinstruction format 730.

Some execution unit instructions have up to three operands including twosource operands, src0 722, src1 722, and one destination 718. In someembodiments, the execution units support dual destination instructions,where one of the destinations is implied. Data manipulation instructionscan have a third source operand (e.g., SRC2 724), where the instructionopcode 712 determines the number of source operands. An instruction'slast source operand can be an immediate (e.g., hard-coded) value passedwith the instruction.

In some embodiments, the 128-bit instruction format 710 includes anaccess/address mode information 726 specifying, for example, whetherdirect register addressing mode or indirect register addressing mode isused. When direct register addressing mode is used, the register addressof one or more operands is directly provided by bits in the instruction710.

In some embodiments, the 128-bit instruction format 710 includes anaccess/address mode field 726, which specifies an address mode and/or anaccess mode for the instruction. In one embodiment the access mode todefine a data access alignment for the instruction. Some embodimentssupport access modes including a 16-byte aligned access mode and a1-byte aligned access mode, where the byte alignment of the access modedetermines the access alignment of the instruction operands. Forexample, when in a first mode, the instruction 710 may use byte-alignedaddressing for source and destination operands and when in a secondmode, the instruction 710 may use 16-byte-aligned addressing for allsource and destination operands.

In one embodiment, the address mode portion of the access/address modefield 726 determines whether the instruction is to use direct orindirect addressing. When direct register addressing mode is used bitsin the instruction 710 directly provide the register address of one ormore operands. When indirect register addressing mode is used, theregister address of one or more operands may be computed based on anaddress register value and an address immediate field in theinstruction.

In some embodiments instructions are grouped based on opcode 712bit-fields to simplify Opcode decode 740. For an 8-bit opcode, bits 4,5, and 6 allow the execution unit to determine the type of opcode. Theprecise opcode grouping shown is merely an example. In some embodiments,a move and logic opcode group 742 includes data movement and logicinstructions (e.g., move (mov), compare (cmp)). In some embodiments,move and logic group 742 shares the five most significant bits (MSB),where move (mov) instructions are in the form of 0000xxxxb and logicinstructions are in the form of 0001xxxxb. A flow control instructiongroup 744 (e.g., call, jump (jmp)) includes instructions in the form of0010xxxxb (e.g., 0x20). A miscellaneous instruction group 746 includes amix of instructions, including synchronization instructions (e.g., wait,send) in the form of 0011xxxxb (e.g., 0x30). A parallel math instructiongroup 748 includes component-wise arithmetic instructions (e.g., add,multiply (mul)) in the form of 0100xxxxb (e.g., 0x40). The parallel mathgroup 748 performs the arithmetic operations in parallel across datachannels. The vector math group 750 includes arithmetic instructions(e.g., dp4) in the form of 0101xxxxb (e.g., 0x50). The vector math groupperforms arithmetic such as dot product calculations on vector operands.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a graphics processor800. Elements of FIG. 12 having the same reference numbers (or names) asthe elements of any other figure herein can operate or function in anymanner similar to that described elsewhere herein, but are not limitedto such.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 800 includes a graphics pipeline820, a media pipeline 830, a display engine 840, thread execution logic850, and a render output pipeline 870. In some embodiments, graphicsprocessor 800 is a graphics processor within a multi-core processingsystem that includes one or more general purpose processing cores. Thegraphics processor is controlled by register writes to one or morecontrol registers (not shown) or via commands issued to graphicsprocessor 800 via a ring interconnect 802. In some embodiments, ringinterconnect 802 couples graphics processor 800 to other processingcomponents, such as other graphics processors or general-purposeprocessors. Commands from ring interconnect 802 are interpreted by acommand streamer 803, which supplies instructions to individualcomponents of graphics pipeline 820 or media pipeline 830.

In some embodiments, command streamer 803 directs the operation of avertex fetcher 805 that reads vertex data from memory and executesvertex-processing commands provided by command streamer 803. In someembodiments, vertex fetcher 805 provides vertex data to a vertex shader807, which performs coordinate space transformation and lightingoperations to each vertex. In some embodiments, vertex fetcher 805 andvertex shader 807 execute vertex-processing instructions by dispatchingexecution threads to execution units 852A, 852B via a thread dispatcher831.

In some embodiments, execution units 852A, 852B are an array of vectorprocessors having an instruction set for performing graphics and mediaoperations. In some embodiments, execution units 852A, 852B have anattached L1 cache 851 that is specific for each array or shared betweenthe arrays. The cache can be configured as a data cache, an instructioncache, or a single cache that is partitioned to contain data andinstructions in different partitions.

In some embodiments, graphics pipeline 820 includes tessellationcomponents to perform hardware-accelerated tessellation of 3D objects.In some embodiments, a programmable hull shader 811 configures thetessellation operations. A programmable domain shader 817 providesback-end evaluation of tessellation output. A tessellator 813 operatesat the direction of hull shader 811 and contains special purpose logicto generate a set of detailed geometric objects based on a coarsegeometric model that is provided as input to graphics pipeline 820. Insome embodiments, if tessellation is not used, tessellation components811, 813, 817 can be bypassed.

In some embodiments, complete geometric objects can be processed by ageometry shader 819 via one or more threads dispatched to executionunits 852A, 852B, or can proceed directly to the clipper 829. In someembodiments, the geometry shader operates on entire geometric objects,rather than vertices or patches of vertices as in previous stages of thegraphics pipeline. If the tessellation is disabled the geometry shader819 receives input from the vertex shader 807. In some embodiments,geometry shader 819 is programmable by a geometry shader program toperform geometry tessellation if the tessellation units are disabled.

Before rasterization, a clipper 829 processes vertex data. The clipper829 may be a fixed function clipper or a programmable clipper havingclipping and geometry shader functions. In some embodiments, arasterizer/depth 873 in the render output pipeline 870 dispatches pixelshaders to convert the geometric objects into their per pixelrepresentations. In some embodiments, pixel shader logic is included inthread execution logic 850. In some embodiments, an application canbypass the rasterizer 873 and access un-rasterized vertex data via astream out unit 823.

The graphics processor 800 has an interconnect bus, interconnect fabric,or some other interconnect mechanism that allows data and messagepassing amongst the major components of the processor. In someembodiments, execution units 852A, 852B and associated cache(s) 851,texture and media sampler 854, and texture/sampler cache 858interconnect via a data port 856 to perform memory access andcommunicate with render output pipeline components of the processor. Insome embodiments, sampler 854, caches 851, 858 and execution units 852A,852B each have separate memory access paths.

In some embodiments, render output pipeline 870 contains a rasterizerand depth test component 873 that converts vertex-based objects into anassociated pixel-based representation. In some embodiments, therasterizer logic includes a windower/masker unit to perform fixedfunction triangle and line rasterization. An associated render cache 878and depth cache 879 are also available in some embodiments. A pixeloperations component 877 performs pixel-based operations on the data,though in some instances, pixel operations associated with 2D operations(e.g. bit block image transfers with blending) are performed by the 2Dengine 841, or substituted at display time by the display controller 843using overlay display planes. In some embodiments, a shared L3 cache 875is available to all graphics components, allowing the sharing of datawithout the use of main system memory.

In some embodiments, graphics processor media pipeline 830 includes amedia engine 837 and a video front end 834. In some embodiments, videofront end 834 receives pipeline commands from the command streamer 803.In some embodiments, media pipeline 830 includes a separate commandstreamer. In some embodiments, video front-end 834 processes mediacommands before sending the command to the media engine 837. In someembodiments, media engine 337 includes thread spawning functionality tospawn threads for dispatch to thread execution logic 850 via threaddispatcher 831.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 800 includes a display engine840. In some embodiments, display engine 840 is external to processor800 and couples with the graphics processor via the ring interconnect802, or some other interconnect bus or fabric. In some embodiments,display engine 840 includes a 2D engine 841 and a display controller843. In some embodiments, display engine 840 contains special purposelogic capable of operating independently of the 3D pipeline. In someembodiments, display controller 843 couples with a display device (notshown), which may be a system integrated display device, as in a laptopcomputer, or an external display device attached via a display deviceconnector.

In some embodiments, graphics pipeline 820 and media pipeline 830 areconfigurable to perform operations based on multiple graphics and mediaprogramming interfaces and are not specific to any one applicationprogramming interface (API). In some embodiments, driver software forthe graphics processor translates API calls that are specific to aparticular graphics or media library into commands that can be processedby the graphics processor. In some embodiments, support is provided forthe Open Graphics Library (OpenGL) and Open Computing Language (OpenCL)from the Khronos Group, the Direct3D library from the MicrosoftCorporation, or support may be provided to both OpenGL and D3D. Supportmay also be provided for the Open Source Computer Vision Library(OpenCV). A future API with a compatible 3D pipeline would also besupported if a mapping can be made from the pipeline of the future APIto the pipeline of the graphics processor.

FIG. 13A is a block diagram illustrating a graphics processor commandformat 900 according to some embodiments. FIG. 13B is a block diagramillustrating a graphics processor command sequence 910 according to anembodiment. The solid lined boxes in FIG. 13A illustrate the componentsthat are generally included in a graphics command while the dashed linesinclude components that are optional or that are only included in asub-set of the graphics commands. The exemplary graphics processorcommand format 900 of FIG. 13A includes data fields to identify a targetclient 902 of the command, a command operation code (opcode) 904, andthe relevant data 906 for the command. A sub-opcode 905 and a commandsize 908 are also included in some commands.

In some embodiments, client 902 specifies the client unit of thegraphics device that processes the command data. In some embodiments, agraphics processor command parser examines the client field of eachcommand to condition the further processing of the command and route thecommand data to the appropriate client unit. In some embodiments, thegraphics processor client units include a memory interface unit, arender unit, a 2D unit, a 3D unit, and a media unit. Each client unithas a corresponding processing pipeline that processes the commands.Once the command is received by the client unit, the client unit readsthe opcode 904 and, if present, sub-opcode 905 to determine theoperation to perform. The client unit performs the command usinginformation in data field 906. For some commands an explicit commandsize 908 is expected to specify the size of the command. In someembodiments, the command parser automatically determines the size of atleast some of the commands based on the command opcode. In someembodiments commands are aligned via multiples of a double word.

The flow diagram in FIG. 13B shows an exemplary graphics processorcommand sequence 910. In some embodiments, software or firmware of adata processing system that features an embodiment of a graphicsprocessor uses a version of the command sequence shown to set up,execute, and terminate a set of graphics operations. A sample commandsequence is shown and described for purposes of example only asembodiments are not limited to these specific commands or to thiscommand sequence. Moreover, the commands may be issued as batch ofcommands in a command sequence, such that the graphics processor willprocess the sequence of commands in at least partially concurrence.

In some embodiments, the graphics processor command sequence 910 maybegin with a pipeline flush command 912 to cause any active graphicspipeline to complete the currently pending commands for the pipeline. Insome embodiments, the 3D pipeline 922 and the media pipeline 924 do notoperate concurrently. The pipeline flush is performed to cause theactive graphics pipeline to complete any pending commands. In responseto a pipeline flush, the command parser for the graphics processor willpause command processing until the active drawing engines completepending operations and the relevant read caches are invalidated.Optionally, any data in the render cache that is marked ‘dirty’ can beflushed to memory. In some embodiments, pipeline flush command 912 canbe used for pipeline synchronization or before placing the graphicsprocessor into a low power state.

In some embodiments, a pipeline select command 913 is used when acommand sequence requires the graphics processor to explicitly switchbetween pipelines. In some embodiments, a pipeline select command 913 isrequired only once within an execution context before issuing pipelinecommands unless the context is to issue commands for both pipelines. Insome embodiments, a pipeline flush command is 912 is requiredimmediately before a pipeline switch via the pipeline select command913.

In some embodiments, a pipeline control command 914 configures agraphics pipeline for operation and is used to program the 3D pipeline922 and the media pipeline 924. In some embodiments, pipeline controlcommand 914 configures the pipeline state for the active pipeline. Inone embodiment, the pipeline control command 914 is used for pipelinesynchronization and to clear data from one or more cache memories withinthe active pipeline before processing a batch of commands.

In some embodiments, return buffer state commands 916 are used toconfigure a set of return buffers for the respective pipelines to writedata. Some pipeline operations require the allocation, selection, orconfiguration of one or more return buffers into which the operationswrite intermediate data during processing. In some embodiments, thegraphics processor also uses one or more return buffers to store outputdata and to perform cross thread communication. In some embodiments, thereturn buffer state 916 includes selecting the size and number of returnbuffers to use for a set of pipeline operations.

The remaining commands in the command sequence differ based on theactive pipeline for operations. Based on a pipeline determination 920,the command sequence is tailored to the 3D pipeline 922 beginning withthe 3D pipeline state 930, or the media pipeline 924 beginning at themedia pipeline state 940.

The commands for the 3D pipeline state 930 include 3D state settingcommands for vertex buffer state, vertex element state, constant colorstate, depth buffer state, and other state variables that are to beconfigured before 3D primitive commands are processed. The values ofthese commands are determined at least in part based the particular 3DAPI in use. In some embodiments, 3D pipeline state 930 commands are alsoable to selectively disable or bypass certain pipeline elements if thoseelements will not be used.

In some embodiments, 3D primitive 932 command is used to submit 3Dprimitives to be processed by the 3D pipeline. Commands and associatedparameters that are passed to the graphics processor via the 3Dprimitive 932 command are forwarded to the vertex fetch function in thegraphics pipeline. The vertex fetch function uses the 3D primitive 932command data to generate vertex data structures. The vertex datastructures are stored in one or more return buffers. In someembodiments, 3D primitive 932 command is used to perform vertexoperations on 3D primitives via vertex shaders. To process vertexshaders, 3D pipeline 922 dispatches shader execution threads to graphicsprocessor execution units.

In some embodiments, 3D pipeline 922 is triggered via an execute 934command or event. In some embodiments, a register write triggers commandexecution. In some embodiments execution is triggered via a ‘go’ or‘kick’ command in the command sequence. In one embodiment commandexecution is triggered using a pipeline synchronization command to flushthe command sequence through the graphics pipeline. The 3D pipeline willperform geometry processing for the 3D primitives. Once operations arecomplete, the resulting geometric objects are rasterized and the pixelengine colors the resulting pixels. Additional commands to control pixelshading and pixel back end operations may also be included for thoseoperations.

In some embodiments, the graphics processor command sequence 910 followsthe media pipeline 924 path when performing media operations. Ingeneral, the specific use and manner of programming for the mediapipeline 924 depends on the media or compute operations to be performed.Specific media decode operations may be offloaded to the media pipelineduring media decode. In some embodiments, the media pipeline can also bebypassed and media decode can be performed in whole or in part usingresources provided by one or more general purpose processing cores. Inone embodiment, the media pipeline also includes elements forgeneral-purpose graphics processor unit (GPGPU) operations, where thegraphics processor is used to perform SIMD vector operations usingcomputational shader programs that are not explicitly related to therendering of graphics primitives.

In some embodiments, media pipeline 924 is configured in a similarmanner as the 3D pipeline 922. A set of media pipeline state commands940 are dispatched or placed into in a command queue before the mediaobject commands 942. In some embodiments, media pipeline state commands940 include data to configure the media pipeline elements that will beused to process the media objects. This includes data to configure thevideo decode and video encode logic within the media pipeline, such asencode or decode format. In some embodiments, media pipeline statecommands 940 also support the use one or more pointers to “indirect”state elements that contain a batch of state settings.

In some embodiments, media object commands 942 supply pointers to mediaobjects for processing by the media pipeline. The media objects includememory buffers containing video data to be processed. In someembodiments, all media pipeline states must be valid before issuing amedia object command 942. Once the pipeline state is configured andmedia object commands 942 are queued, the media pipeline 924 istriggered via an execute command 944 or an equivalent execute event(e.g., register write). Output from media pipeline 924 may then be postprocessed by operations provided by the 3D pipeline 922 or the mediapipeline 924. In some embodiments, GPGPU operations are configured andexecuted in a similar manner as media operations.

FIG. 14 illustrates exemplary graphics software architecture for a dataprocessing system 1000 according to some embodiments. In someembodiments, software architecture includes a 3D graphics application1010, an operating system 1020, and at least one processor 1030. In someembodiments, processor 1030 includes a graphics processor 1032 and oneor more general-purpose processor core(s) 1034. The graphics application1010 and operating system 1020 each execute in the system memory 1050 ofthe data processing system.

In some embodiments, 3D graphics application 1010 contains one or moreshader programs including shader instructions 1012. The shader languageinstructions may be in a high-level shader language, such as the HighLevel Shader Language (HLSL) or the OpenGL Shader Language (GLSL). Theapplication also includes executable instructions 1014 in a machinelanguage suitable for execution by the general-purpose processor core1034. The application also includes graphics objects 1016 defined byvertex data.

In some embodiments, operating system 1020 is a Microsoft® Windows®operating system from the Microsoft Corporation, a proprietary UNIX-likeoperating system, or an open source UNIX-like operating system using avariant of the Linux kernel. When the Direct3D API is in use, theoperating system 1020 uses a front-end shader compiler 1024 to compileany shader instructions 1012 in HLSL into a lower-level shader language.The compilation may be a just-in-time (JIT) compilation or theapplication can perform shader pre-compilation. In some embodiments,high-level shaders are compiled into low-level shaders during thecompilation of the 3D graphics application 1010.

In some embodiments, user mode graphics driver 1026 contains a back-endshader compiler 1027 to convert the shader instructions 1012 into ahardware specific representation. When the OpenGL API is in use, shaderinstructions 1012 in the GLSL high-level language are passed to a usermode graphics driver 1026 for compilation. In some embodiments, usermode graphics driver 1026 uses operating system kernel mode functions1028 to communicate with a kernel mode graphics driver 1029. In someembodiments, kernel mode graphics driver 1029 communicates with graphicsprocessor 1032 to dispatch commands and instructions.

One or more aspects of at least one embodiment may be implemented byrepresentative code stored on a machine-readable medium which representsand/or defines logic within an integrated circuit such as a processor.For example, the machine-readable medium may include instructions whichrepresent various logic within the processor. When read by a machine,the instructions may cause the machine to fabricate the logic to performthe techniques described herein. Such representations, known as “IPcores,” are reusable units of logic for an integrated circuit that maybe stored on a tangible, machine-readable medium as a hardware modelthat describes the structure of the integrated circuit. The hardwaremodel may be supplied to various customers or manufacturing facilities,which load the hardware model on fabrication machines that manufacturethe integrated circuit. The integrated circuit may be fabricated suchthat the circuit performs operations described in association with anyof the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an IP core development system1100 that may be used to manufacture an integrated circuit to performoperations according to an embodiment. The IP core development system1100 may be used to generate modular, re-usable designs that can beincorporated into a larger design or used to construct an entireintegrated circuit (e.g., an SOC integrated circuit). A design facility1130 can generate a software simulation 1110 of an IP core design in ahigh level programming language (e.g., C/C++). The software simulation1110 can be used to design, test, and verify the behavior of the IP coreusing a simulation model 1112. The simulation model 1112 may includefunctional, behavioral, and/or timing simulations. A register transferlevel (RTL) design can then be created or synthesized from thesimulation model 1112. The RTL design 1115 is an abstraction of thebehavior of the integrated circuit that models the flow of digitalsignals between hardware registers, including the associated logicperformed using the modeled digital signals. In addition to an RTLdesign 1115, lower-level designs at the logic level or transistor levelmay also be created, designed, or synthesized. Thus, the particulardetails of the initial design and simulation may vary.

The RTL design 1115 or equivalent may be further synthesized by thedesign facility into a hardware model 1120, which may be in a hardwaredescription language (HDL), or some other representation of physicaldesign data. The HDL may be further simulated or tested to verify the IPcore design. The IP core design can be stored for delivery to a 3^(rd)party fabrication facility 1165 using non-volatile memory 1140 (e.g.,hard disk, flash memory, or any non-volatile storage medium).Alternatively, the IP core design may be transmitted (e.g., via theInternet) over a wired connection 1150 or wireless connection 1160. Thefabrication facility 1165 may then fabricate an integrated circuit thatis based at least in part on the IP core design. The fabricatedintegrated circuit can be configured to perform operations in accordancewith at least one embodiment described herein.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system on a chipintegrated circuit 1200 that may be fabricated using one or more IPcores, according to an embodiment. The exemplary integrated circuitincludes one or more application processors 1205 (e.g., CPUs), at leastone graphics processor 1210, and may additionally include an imageprocessor 1215 and/or a video processor 1220, any of which may be amodular IP core from the same or multiple different design facilities.The integrated circuit includes peripheral or bus logic including a USBcontroller 1225, UART controller 1230, an SPI/SDIO controller 1235, andan I²S/I²C controller 1240. Additionally, the integrated circuit caninclude a display device 1245 coupled to one or more of ahigh-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) controller 1250 and a mobileindustry processor interface (MIPI) display interface 1255. Storage maybe provided by a flash memory subsystem 1260 including flash memory anda flash memory controller. Memory interface may be provided via a memorycontroller 1265 for access to SDRAM or SRAM memory devices. Someintegrated circuits additionally include an embedded security engine1270.

Additionally, other logic and circuits may be included in the processorof integrated circuit 1200, including additional graphicsprocessors/cores, peripheral interface controllers, or general purposeprocessor cores.

The following clauses and/or examples pertain to further embodiments:

One example embodiment may be a method comprising performing tilepre-processing to identify primitives to be culled during subsequentrendering, inserting an added command in a list of render commands,executing the list of render commands for each of a plurality of tiles,and on execution of the command list for each tile, using the addedcommand to determine whether to avoid executing an ensuing primitivespecific command based on the identification of primitives to be culled.The method may include wherein tile pre-processing includes performingposition only shading. The method may include providing tokens toindicate whether to interpret the added command as a command to skip anensuing primitive. The method may include providing an offset to locatethe next command to execute with said added command. The method mayinclude providing two offsets if a draw is a next chained commandbuffer. The method may include wherein said added command is a jump ifcommand. The method may include wherein a primitive draw command andprimitive specific state command are selectively skipped. The method mayinclude wherein commands that are not primitive specific are notskipped.

Another example embodiment may be one or more non-transitory computerreadable media storing instructions to perform a sequence comprisingperforming tile pre-processing to identify primitives to be culledduring subsequent rendering, inserting an added command in a list ofrender commands, executing the list of render commands for each of aplurality of tiles, and on execution of the command list for each tile,using the added command to determine whether to avoid executing anensuing primitive specific command based on the identification ofprimitives to be culled. The media may include wherein tilepre-processing includes performing position only shading. The media mayinclude further storing instructions to perform a sequence includingproviding tokens to indicate whether to interpret the added command as acommand to skip an ensuing primitive. The media may include furtherstoring instructions to perform a sequence including providing an offsetto locate the next command to execute with said added command. The mediamay include further storing instructions to perform a sequence includingproviding two offsets if a draw is a next chained command buffer. Themedia may include wherein said added command is a jump if command. Themedia may include wherein a primitive draw command and primitivespecific state command are selectively skipped. The media may includewherein commands that are not primitive specific are not skipped.

In another example embodiment may be an apparatus comprising a processorto perform tile pre-processing to identify primitives to be culledduring subsequent rendering, insert an added command in a list of rendercommands, execute the list of render commands for each of a plurality oftiles, on execution of the command list for each tile, and use the addedcommand to determine whether to avoid executing an ensuing primitivespecific command based on the identification of primitives to be culled,and a memory coupled to said processor. The apparatus may includewherein tile pre-processing includes performing position only shading.The apparatus may include said processor to provide tokens to indicatewhether to interpret the added command as a command to skip an ensuingprimitive. The apparatus may include said processor to provide an offsetto locate the next command to execute with said added command. Theapparatus may include said processor to provide two offsets if a draw isa next chained command buffer. The apparatus may include wherein saidadded command is a jump if command. The apparatus may include wherein aprimitive draw command and primitive specific state command areselectively skipped. The apparatus may include wherein commands that arenot primitive specific are not skipped.

The graphics processing techniques described herein may be implementedin various hardware architectures. For example, graphics functionalitymay be integrated within a chipset. Alternatively, a discrete graphicsprocessor may be used. As still another embodiment, the graphicsfunctions may be implemented by a general purpose processor, including amulticore processor.

References throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneimplementation encompassed within the present disclosure. Thus,appearances of the phrase “one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” are notnecessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics may be instituted inother suitable forms other than the particular embodiment illustratedand all such forms may be encompassed within the claims of the presentapplication.

While a limited number of embodiments have been described, those skilledin the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variationstherefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all suchmodifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope ofthis disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: performing tilepre-processing to identify primitives to be culled during subsequentrendering; inserting added commands in a primitive list of draw andstate commands to indicate whether to perform draw commands for aprimitive based on whether the primitive will be culled while enablingstate commands to be executed for all primitives; executing the list ofrender commands in a command list for a plurality of tiles; on executionof the command list for a tile, using the added command for a tile todetermine whether to avoid executing an ensuing draw command based onthe identification of a primitive to be culled while still executing allstate commands in the command list for all primitives includingprimitives to be culled; and rendering primitives using said commandlists, said command lists including identical draw and state commandsfor all tiles and differing only in said added commands.
 2. The methodof claim 1 wherein tile pre-processing includes performing position onlyshading.
 3. The method of claim 1 including providing tokens to indicatewhether to interpret the added command as a command to skip an ensuingprimitive.
 4. The method of claim 3 including providing an offset tolocate the next command to execute with said added command.
 5. Themethod of claim 4 including providing two offsets if a draw is a nextchained command buffer.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said addedcommand is a jump if command.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein aprimitive draw command and primitive specific state command areselectively skipped.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein commands that arenot primitive specific are not skipped.
 9. One or more non-transitorycomputer readable media storing instructions to perform a sequencecomprising: performing tile pre-processing to identify primitives to beculled during subsequent rendering; inserting added commands in aprimitive list of draw and state commands to indicate whether to performdraw commands for a primitive based on whether the primitive will beculled while enabling state commands to be executed for all primitives;executing the list of render commands in a command list for a pluralityof tiles; on execution of the command list for a tile, using the addedcommand for a tile to determine whether to avoid executing an ensuingdraw command based on the identification of a primitive to be culledwhile still executing all state commands in the command list for allprimitives including primitives to be culled; and rendering primitivesusing said command lists, said command lists including identical drawand state commands for all tiles and differing only in said addedcommands.
 10. The media of claim 9 wherein tile pre-processing includesperforming position only shading.
 11. The media of claim 9, furtherstoring instructions to perform a sequence including providing tokens toindicate whether to interpret the added command as a command to skip anensuing primitive.
 12. The media of claim 11, further storinginstructions to perform a sequence including providing an offset tolocate the next command to execute with said added command.
 13. Themedia of claim 12, further storing instructions to perform a sequenceincluding providing two offsets if a draw is a next chained commandbuffer.
 14. The media of claim 9 wherein said added command is a jump ifcommand.
 15. The media of claim 9 wherein a primitive draw command andprimitive specific state command are selectively skipped.
 16. The mediaof claim 15 wherein commands that are not primitive specific are notskipped.
 17. An apparatus comprising: a processor to perform tilepre-processing to identify primitives to be culled during subsequentrendering, insert added commands in a primitive list of draw and statecommands to indicate whether to perform draw commands for a primitivebased on whether the primitive will be culled while enabling statecommands to be executed for all primitives, execute the list of rendercommands in a command list for a plurality of tiles, on execution of thecommand list for a tile, use the added command for a tile to determinewhether to avoid executing an ensuing draw command based on theidentification of a primitive to be culled while still executing allstate commands in the command list for all primitives includingprimitives to be culled, render primitives using said command lists,said command lists including identical draw and state commands for alltiles and differing only in said added commands; and a memory coupled tosaid processor.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein tilepre-processing includes performing position only shading.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 17, said processor to provide tokens to indicatewhether to interpret the added command as a command to skip an ensuingprimitive.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, said processor to provide anoffset to locate the next command to execute with said added command.21. The apparatus of claim 20, said processor to provide two offsets ifa draw is a next chained command buffer.
 22. The apparatus of claim 17,wherein said added command is a jump if command.
 23. The apparatus ofclaim 17, wherein a primitive draw command and primitive specific statecommand are selectively skipped.
 24. The apparatus of claim 17 whereincommands that are not primitive specific are not skipped.